LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As part of UofL Health’s initiative focused on innovation and the advancement of treatment, UofL Health – Medical Center East is the first in Kentucky to offer and perform endoscopic spine surgery using Elliquence technology.
Neurosurgeon David Freeman, M.D, UofL Health – Brain & Spine Institute, and Assistant Professor, UofL Department of Neurosurgery, performed the commonwealth’s first Elliquence procedure in September 2023. The technology provides endoscopic spine surgery tools to help relieve pain in the neck, back and legs. Dr. Freeman said about 85% of Americans will experience pain from spinal injury, known as disc herniation, in their lifetime. Endoscopic spine surgery is comparable to performing arthroscopy for hips, knees and shoulders, and laparoscopy for general surgical procedures.
Elliquence uses direct visualization with scopes, which has been applied to many other anatomical procedural solutions, and it makes sense to apply it to the spine. Spine endoscopy allows physicians to perform spine procedures under direct visualization through a working channel endoscope. By doing so, the surrounding anatomy is preserved, and the offending pathology is precisely targeted and removed, according to Elliquence.
With this sort of procedure, patients tend to lose less blood, are discharged quickly and have a recovery time that can be as short as one to three weeks.
UofL Health recently completed the noninvasive surgery on our first patient, Wilfred Longo, a former member of the military. Longo was out of his procedure after an impressive 90 minutes. He has since spoke on his smooth and quick recovery, to where he was back to physical activity with his children in no time.
For more information on Elliquence and to see if you qualify, click here.
